By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
At the Elmhurst City Council meeting held Monday, July 19, the company CDM Smith offered a presentation about the plans for Elmhurst’s new Metra station.
“We’ve been working on this project for the past five years,” said Chris Martell, principal with CDM Smith. “At this time, we are seeking approval of a preferred alternative.”
Martell offered a brief history of the Metra building that it was built in the late 1960s and was updated in the 1980s, but not since.
The Elmhurst station is the fourth busiest stop on the Metra system. At this time, Martell reported that, as of 2018, there are 2,540 weekday boardings at the Elmhurst station, but that number is expected to rise to more than 3,200 by 2038. The building currently has accessibility code issues and is now even beyond the needs required by Metra regarding safety issues.
“We completed the Phase One Engineering and analysis,” Martell said. “We had workshops with the public, had a public survey, found out the amenities residents want and the challenges they see in their train station.”
Coming improvements
Among the improvements expected are accessibility ramps through the underpass, improved parking, warming shelters, a PACE bus drop-off location and expanded service for bicycle riders. In the building layout, Martell said the new plans include nicer waiting areas, accessible restrooms and vendor space. People feel strongly about having a 24-hour waiting area throughout the duration of Metra service, so people can wait indoors. Outdoor areas are to be enhanced as well.
The next step is Phase Two—Advancing the Design. This step will bring forward bid documents so work can begin. Martell introduced his colleague Sarah Sutherland, the senior architect with CDM Smith. Sutherland spoke about the overall scope of the project and the proposed site plan. She showed a series of slides representing similar sites in other cities and how they related to the public comments gathered by CDM Smith.
The public’s preferences
Sutherland discussed preferences in lighting, both inside and out, and the public’s interest to keep it consistent with surroundings and the rest of downtown in order to blend in. The public also seeks energy efficiency and possible solar options.
Landscaping and plaza space was presented, as the majority of residents seem to prefer native plantings and prairie-style flowers, while keeping the area durable and easy maintained. There was a suggestion of involving local garden clubs or environmental organizations.
There was a great deal of support for ample bicycle parking, preferably covered parking with security lock-ups.
In general, the public likes the look and feel of civic buildings in town, such as the Elmhurst Public Library, the Elmhurst History Museum, the Elmhurst Art Museum and the Wilder Park Conservatory. People said they were the most “Elmhurst-like” in style and offered the best representation of Elmhurst and its community pride.
Spaces to improve in size
Sutherland presented a Summer of Spaces, which showed that the current inbound station was 2,000 GSF with a waiting area of 1,000 square feet and 30 seats. The proposed station will have 3,000 GSF, with a 1,300 square-foot waiting area with 50 seats and a 24-hour waiting area of 250 square feet with four seats. The outbound station is currently 250 square feet and will be expanded to 450 square feet with 10 seats. There is currently one warming shelter that is 100 square feet. The plan is for two warming shelters that are 500 square feet each.
By comparison, the existing station total waiting area has 1,350 square feet, but the new plan will have 3,000 square feet of total waiting space.
The decision about this plan will be discussed at a future meeting of the Elmhurst City Council.
